I am new to Visualize, I've watched a few vids and had a play with a few of its features however I have an issue regarding custom appearances. When I'm viewing my object (with my custom appearance attached) it looks roughly how I want it, almost a creamy white (see preview image attached). However when I try a fast render (also attached) it changes to more of a dull grey colour. I have tried a few different environments and all have the same issue? Could someone please enlighten me as to where I am going wrong (sure it is something basic).

I had a similar problem, but with an aluminium material I'd imported from SolidWorks. Switching from 'Accurate' to 'fast' turned the nice light aluminium into a dark, harsh grey. Switching back to 'Accurate' then kept this darker colour and no undo's would rectify it. Had to close the program and re-import, avoiding 'fast' at all costs...

There shouldn't be that much difference between Preview mode and Fast/Accurate modes. There are only a couple appearance types that need to use Accurate mode, since they are more complex appearance types and require Accurate mode. Subsurface-scattering is one of these Appearance Types that require Accurate mode (for now at least - update coming soon!).

Try using Accurate mode. If that doesn't help, try increasing the brightness of the HDR, or if you have Visualize Pro, you can tweak the Exposure slider in the Post-Processing options of the Cameras Tab.

Could you please attached the customer appearance you've created, and I can play around with it? You can right click on the appearance thumbnail and select Save Appearance to File. Then attached that file to this forum thread.

Hello Brian, thanks! I've used the forum for other Solidworks queries and find it a very useful resource.

Thanks for the suggestions, since my original post (and the other helpful replies) I've 'tweaked' a few of the settings which have enabled me to get a little closer to the look of the preview whilst still not being perfect. I learn a little more each time I try so its all good